Part 18: Aggrevating Darkness

(Music: Intermission ~The Deepening of the "Night")

Welcome to Chapter 9, aka "a chapter that everyone who played this game hates." Why do people hate it? Well...it'll become obvious pretty quickly.









(Music: DARKNESS)

: Right now, it's what Detective Jowd is hiding himself in. (I hope the detective is all right in this blackness...I'd better find him, fast.) Come to think of it, he gave me some advice. Head for the spoon, he said. I wonder what that's all about?



Most of this chapter takes place under cover of darkness, with us only being able to see a small radius around whatever object we're currently possessing. Fortunately, the ghost world still lets you see where you're going. In this case Sausage Head is still asleep in his tunnel, so we can go over to his spoon from here.



: ...so here I am.



And as soon as we get there, the bell rings.







: (Thank goodness someone flushed his toilet. That was good timing.) Now to use the cover of darkness to help the detective escape! But first I have to find him...

Yes, let's go do tha-



...that's one hell of an outfit.

: Hmm. It looks like there are hunters in this darkness. (I hope they haven't found Detective Jowd...)



Then Sissel reminds us(again) that darkness doesn't exist in the Ghost World, even though that's made blatently obvious to you just by getting back up to the spoon.



And of course, the internal phones don't work. We have to get around here the hard way. But getting over to Jowd's cell is easy enough, though when we get there...







Well, let's talk to Jowd and see if he has any bright ideas for getting his ass out of here.

(Music: COMPLICATION)



: Are you the one who made that toilet bell ring?
: That's right. I still had another napkin laying around.
: Thanks to that, I managed to make it here. But how did you know to do that?
: I learned a few things about your ghost tricks during our time together. They certainly can be useful powers, but, at times, not so much...I knew that if the internal phones weren't working, you'd be trapped in the death chamber area. So I quickly came up with an alternative route. A route that made use of Sausage Head's spoon and my napkin.
: (Wow. This detective is good.)
: Next time you praise me, go ahead and say it out loud.
: ...anyway, it looks like it's time for a strategy meeting.
: An escape strategy, huh? This could be interesting. Let's do it!



We can also ask about the prison security, but for now let's start with discussing how to get Jowd out of here.

: Okay, so let's make sure we're both clear. The key to my escape is this darkness. Once the basement power supply is restored, escape will be impossible.
: So we move under cover of darkness, huh? I know I won't have much trouble with that...
: But I'm afraid I won't be able to see, so you'll have to lead the way.
: Lead the way?
: Once you find a safe spot for me to move to, I want you to give me a signal.
: Okay, fine, but how? The dead don't have voices. Even if we did, we have to be quiet.
: Don't you worry about that. I have an idea. Let's just try it and you'll see how it works.
: (This detective likes to just dive into things, even more than Lynne does.)
: If they find me, I imagine they'll shoot first and ask questions later. But if I die again, we can just start over, right?
: (...he says cheerfully.)

At least Jowd isn't being as much of a dick now. And despite his warning about escape being impossible once the power's restored, this isn't a timed mission(thank god). But now, let's talk about the security around here.



: There aren't any dangerous criminals around here...except for me, that is.
: Yes, I did hear something about it being a "special" place...
: Yes, and because of the "special" status, they're not prepared at all for emergencies. They have four timid security guards, at most.
: I think I saw some hunters lurking in the darkness, though...
: Those are the guards. They're wearing night vision goggles.
: "Night vision goggles"?
: They're special glasses that let you see in the dark. Very handy things. If I enter their field of vision, it's all over.
: (So it's all about staying out of the guards' line of sight, eh?)
: Make sure you guide me to safe spots!



: Oh, yeah. How am I supposed to do it?
: I've already been dead once. I don't know if it's because of that or what, but...I can sense your powers now.
: Y-you what?
: For example, you're in the bunk right now, aren't you?
: Wow, I'm impressed. I guess you have a sixth sense.
: I think it's more like a "detective's sense."
: (Uh, that doesn't sound right, somehow...)



: Yeah. Where did that come from?
: Let's use it as our signal.
: How will that work?
: If you touch the icon, I'll sense it. Then I'll move to where you are. So, for example, if you move to that spoon and touch the icon...I'll run to the spoon. Simple, right?
: All right, fine. Let's start our escape plan!



: That's the light of the night vision goggles on one of the guards.
: I can use the light to let me know where the guard is.
: And if you watch the light closely, you can tell how the guard is moving, too. Very informative in this darkness. Keep a sharp eye out for it.

So it's basically an escort mission in total darkness, with guards walking around that you can only see because of the glow of their night vision goggles, and if you make a single mistake you have to start all over again. Starting to see why people hate this chapter so much? Luckily for me, it's not quite as bad when you've been through it before...it's still rather annoying, though.

Speaking of annoying, this is what happens if you guide Jowd somewhere and he enters a guard's field of vision:





And then you have to start over. Luckily, this is the very start of the puzzle, so it's pretty easy to do it properly. Go over to the bunk in the next cell...



...and wait for the guard to be looking away from Jowd. Then you can guide Jowd over to the next bed.





Then the guards start moving, and Jowd reminds us that we can tell how they're moving by the red lights. But more importantly, we have to wait for a certain one of them to get within range...



...so that we can hitch a ride on his bulletproof vest. And...I wonder what happens if we try to guide Jowd now?



: Are you inviting me to come get shot? I'm not that crazy.



Once this guard gets up here, we can jump to that can and down to the area under the stairs.



This area happens to be a safe spot. So let's guide Jowd over here.



...and if you were paying attention when I was in ghost mode at the top of the stairs, you would have noticed the other guard hanging out up there.

: Wh-what just happened...?
: Apparently there was a hunter lurking in the ceiling. Could you do something about him? It's so dark, I can't even see the bullet coming.
: (So, what...? He'd dodge the bullet if it wasn't dark...?)



Obviously we have to do something about this guard before we can get Jowd beneath the stairs. Well, the guard happens to be laying on top of a hatch. If we open the hatch...



After that, he starts patrolling up and down the stairs. However, as long as the hatch is open, he'll keep falling down at the end of his route. This makes his route too short for Jowd to get over here safely, so let's close up the hatch. And after that, there's some waiting for the guards to be in the right spots so that Jowd won't get caught - one guard has to be partway up the stairs, while the other has to be headed left of Jowd. Once they're in the right spot...



And with Jowd under the stairs...where the hell can we lead him from here? Let's see if he has any suggestions.



: I'll have to avoid those guards somehow...
: But where should I lead you to? There isn't a safe spot anywhere.
: We'll just have to wait until the guards go past, somewhere on the stairs. Even the craziest spot will do. If it's strength you're worried about, I have plenty of that.
: Can you use that strength to knock the guards out for me?
: Well, they do say my punches are "faster than a speeding bullet." I have my doubts about that, though.



First of all, we have to get back to the hatch and open it up again.



And then, once the right guard is heading up the stairs, we can guide Jowd to the valve up near the hatch...



Goddammit. Correction: Once the right guard is heading up the stairs and the left guard isn't looking this way, we can guide Jowd up into the ceiling.





: I have to admit, I'm a little surprised.
: Anyway, this is a safe spot. Not much further now!
: *sigh*
: come on, now, don't worry! We're almost there. Now, we have the choice of either trying to sneak out, or making a dash for it. I'll leave the route up to you.

First of all, I close up the hatch again so that the guard doesn't fall through it again. And that's important, because...



...his route now extends leftward, into the top two cells. We have to use his vest to hitch a ride over to the guitarist's cell.



And then we can guide Jowd over to this hatch...





And then we have to play these drums.



This alarms the guard, who walks over to check them out...and happens to stand over the hatch while he's doing it.



And now's our chance to go over to the guitar and guide Jowd there.



Okay, let's go do that. And after I close the hatch...



This fucking puzzle. Okay, after doing that again, without calling Jowd up there while one of the guards is going this way...



We can guide Jowd over to this bunk.



: I'd say, if we've come this far, we did it! Great job, Sissel!



(Music: GHOST TRICK)





: But the question is, what now?
: I don't have anywhere to go, do I? Maybe I'll go back to my cell...
: Y-you'd better be kidding!
: But I'm still a condemnded criminal, you know. I doubt anybody'd welcome me with open arms.
: Why don't you try contacting Lynne? She went to see some "justice minister" guy...
: So an escaped death-row convict is supposed to just report in to the justice minister, is that it? Hmm, I kind of like that...Anyway, after all the trouble you've went through, I guess I'd better run.
: That would be nice, yes.
: All right, Sissel. Until we meet again!





(Music: The Imprisoned)

And now we have to return upstairs with the internal phone...but we can also check in on the guys down in the death chamber. Let's do that instead!



: Yeah. We're supposed to repair this thing by the time they catch him again. *sigh*
: But I wonder why he escaped? I heard Detective Jowd wanted the death penalty...
: Right. And it's not like him to change his mind. Maybe on this final night of his, he just got a voice in his head or something...maybe it told him to run.
: Are they talking about me?
: What kind of voice do you think it was?
: You know...something evil. Like a devil or a demon or something. I picture something with a point head, wearing sunglasses...something like that.
: They ARE talking about me...! (Can they see me?)

Meanwhile, the cells got back to normal pretty quickly.









But enough about them. Next time, it'll be time to head back into the guard room.